Topaz USB Signature Pad LBK766SE-BBSB-R with USB to Serial Emulation Random Disconnects of COM9 emulated port on Horizon View 6

[aarongillum]

Interesting problem taxing me, and appreciate community input.

We are utilizing the above Topaz Signature pad model, in a Horizon VDI, utilizing PCoIP and Linked clones, to mostly thin client devices.

The Topaz device in question has an integrated "USB to Serial" converter, where it builds its own COM9 port for all communication with the device.

Seemingly randomly, these devices will lose connection with the View session.  You can see that the hardware (indicates) it has physically lost contact with the vmware horizon server, and then if unplugged, and replugged, see when that communication resumes.  It doesn't always resume cleanly though, and often, the VDI session has to be cycled to work with the device properly, again.  You'll see it in the log, re-enumerate from 0x70 to 0x80.

Doing some reading, I've eliminated a suspicion that it might be pulling too much power, as it is USB powered, and with settings, have metered it down to only using .19 AMPS steady - which is nothing, really.

I have also seen where horizon uses port 32111 for the USB passthrough on horizon, and that a QOS rule in place can help with hiccups.  We aren't seeing the issue with ANY other USB device, just these Topaz USB to COM signature pad devices.

I have suggested to this customer, implementing the 32111 QOS rule, and they don't want to prioritize the traffic.

Appreciate any ideas or guidance.  I don't have much visibility of the horizon environment, and can only offer suggestion as it's not one we manage.  The problem is sparatic at best, with the only cataylst seemingly being that it occurs more frequently when a VDI has been left for a lunch break - and even then, not with consistency.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[gshi]

When a VDI has been left for a lunch break, and the lose connection happened, did you see if Topaz device can be recognized by local client machine? If it lose connection with local machine, not surprisingly it will lose the connection with Horizon VDI

[gshi]

I have additional comments:

1. Is it a regression issue?
2. Check if this issue also happens on a local windows machine. If still happens, there could be a problem between the hardware and windows OS.
3. When it lost connection with VDI, does it still work if reconnect the same VDI immediately? If not work, how about restarting “VMware USB Arbitration Service”, if still not work, How about unplugging and replugging?
4. If restarting “VMware USB Arbitration Service” can fix it, it is likely to be related to VMware horizon client.

Finally, please open a SR and attach debug logs for our further investigation.

Thanks

[matthewgONCU]

Did you ever find a fix for this. We are having the exact same issue.

[matthewgONCU]

I know this is a super old thread, but thought I would update what we did. We disabled USB Power management on the thinclient and that seems to have fixed the random disconnect issues. We are still having issues first thing when they sign on that it won't redirect and they have to unplug and plug back in, but then it's good the rest of the day. This is the powershell script we ran on the thinclients:

$USBHubs = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_USBHub
$PowerMgmt = Get-WmiObject -Class MSPower_DeviceEnable -Namespace root\wmi

ForEach ($Hub in $USBHubs) {
Write-Host
Write-Host -Object "Checking USB Hub '$($Hub.Name)'..."
$VarPowerSettings = $PowerMgmt | Where {$_.InstanceName -like "*$($Hub.DeviceID)*"}
If (($VarPowerSettings | Measure).Count -eq 1) {
If (($VarPowerSettings | Select -ExpandProperty Enable) -eq $False) {Write-Host -Object "USB Hub '$($Hub.Name)' already has power saving disabled" -ForegroundColor Green}
Else {
Try {
$VarPowerSettings.Enable = $False
$Null = $VarPowerSettings.psbase.Put()
Write-Host -Object "Disabled power saving features for USB Hub '$($Hub.Name)'" -ForegroundColor Green
}
Catch {Write-Warning -Message "One or more exceptions occurred when trying to set power saving settings for USB Hub '$($Hub.Name)'"}
}
}
ElseIf (($VarPowerSettings | Measure).Count -gt 1) {Write-Warning -Message "More than one WMI object representing power settings was found for '$($Hub.Name)', no settings have been changed for this device"}
Else {Write-Warning -Message "No power settings were found for '$($Hub.Name)', please check if the device supports power saving features"}
}